


Can You Drown Me?

by UnoriginalAtBest



Category: Skeleton Clique - Fandom, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Depression, Doubt, Drowning, Early Band Days, Guilt, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Memories, One Shot, Panic Attack, Paranoia, Sad Tyler, Sadness, Self-Doubt, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Short One Shot, failed band au, from Tyler's fetus music days, inspired by the song Drown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-29 10:17:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10851927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnoriginalAtBest/pseuds/UnoriginalAtBest
Summary: Tyler has fallen, and he needs someone to save him. Or rather, he needs someone toreleasehim.





	Can You Drown Me?

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this randomly??? It isn't that good????? I hope you like it??¿¿?  
> Also, this takes place during the RAB era. Like, if Tyler and Josh failed at growing as a band and had to give up on it.

"You're back." a disturbing voice echoed throughout the black, inky substance trapping the thin framed boy. Tyler blinked, eyes cracking open ever so slightly at the sound. His vision was blurry, and everything around him seemed to be moving in waves. It was disorienting, to say the least. "I never thought I'd see you here again, but here we are." The thing's voice was low, raspy. It chilled Tyler, and made him want to curl up to protect himself.

"Who..." he started, eyes opening just a sliver more to take in whatever surroundings were in front of him. His attempt was futile, however, as all he could see was a dark abyss. Thick and charcoal and unsafe. The voice snickered at him.

"Who am I?" it said, finishing Tyler's sentence. "How funny. You must be really fucked right now to not know where you are or who I am." Tyler blinked once more, eyes cracking open further until, finally, they were open as much as they could be without the action feeling uncomfortable. He scanned the dark abyss laid out before him.

"...lonely..." Tyler mumbled as he watched wave after wave distort the image of nothingness. The voice grunted.

"I suppose." it said, and then fell into silence. Slowly, Tyler attempted to move his hand. His fingers twitched and his bones crackled as they came to life, but he moved his whole arm forward, regardless. He extended the extremity until it came into view, fingers tracing the darkness in front of him in gentle caresses. He tilted his head now, too, twisting his neck from side to side to push out the cricks. He continued like this with every part of his body, and grew to feel the liquid-like substance around him. Cold. Desolate. Uninviting. Lonely. Tyler didn't like it, but at least he could move now, and, he realized, he was _floating_ in whatever this was. Idle. Stale.

With as much care as he could muster, the young boy twisted his body to look behind himself. He was greeted with a new sight, now. One that wasn't filled with darkness. Behind him was a beautiful shimmering blue. It, too, moved in waves, along with the view of a bright, circular object that strongly resembled the sun. _It is the sun._ Tyler realized, and his mouth upturned into a small smile. But, his smile died quickly, for moments later, images began flashing before his eyes. He couldn't help but reel backwards in fright and surprise. A lonely boy, lying on the sidewalk in a box. Alone. Ragged. Unkempt. He was sad, crying himself to sleep at night in the middle of alleys while people passed by, uncaring. The boy seemed to want something. He continuously tried for a goal, and with each try, he fell harder and harder. He was trying for a job, it seemed, but people didn't want dirty, homeless people to work for them. People didn't want screw ups.

Tyler shook his head vigorously, and the images disappeared from behind his eyes. A low snickering resounded through the atmosphere, and suddenly Tyler remembered. He was the homeless boy. He was alone, unaccepted, betrayed by society. Betrayed by the people he once tried to save, because they lost interest in him. They kept him alive, but one after another, they dropped like flies, and he was left behind to live without anyone to hear his broken mind speak out. He was only a fad that quickly faded from existence. No one cared anymore.

"I see you've remembered." the voice spoke with confidence. Tears began to prickle at the corners of Tyler's eyes, and he could practically feel the monster smile from wherever it was. The darkness. Tyler realized, and he spun around in the thick liquid, too frightened to keep his back turned to whatever was behind him. Or rather, below him. He could see now that he was in some sort of body of "water", and the abyss below was the bottom. His body was slowly inching its way downward, but Tyler didn't want to be at the bottom. Tyler didn't want to be at the bottom.

Suddenly, pain surged through Tyler's body. Water began to fill his lungs and he coughed for air. His mouth flew open, but all that came out were bubbles. He could no longer speak, no longer breathe, so he surged upward, body frantically swimming to the surface. He paddled, arms flailing as he pushed as hard as he could through the liquid around him, but he seemed to remain stagnant. The surface appeared to be just as close as it did when he first pushed up, and his arms were beginning to ache from the amount of strain being put on them. His kicking legs slowed, and his vision grew blurry. More bubbles poured from his mouth, and he could feel an impending weight crash onto his chest. Something discomforting wrapped itself around Tyler's ankles, but he could not yell, could not scream for help as it dragged him farther into the dark. Danger. Scared. Frightened. Help. _Help. Help. Help me._ But no one came.

Ever so slowly, Tyler's body was led into the darkness below. He remained conscious, however, his soul lying somewhere on a line between life and death that hurt more than he could comprehend. His body ached everywhere, but no matter how many times a wave of pain knocked the light from his eyes, he would wake a few moments later only to ache once more. This was a sentence worse than death, he supposed. Eventually, his heart slowed, and his mind calmed once more. As the panic drained from his body, so did the pain. He began to no longer feel the ache of his lungs' suffocation, of being crushed into oblivion, and instead it was replaced by a numbness similar to when he first woke. His arms moved morosely, along with the rest of his body, and finally, the pain left completely just as his mind finally returned to its default neutrality.

"The more you struggle, the more it will hurt." the voice echoed. Tyler's eyes moved to look back down at the growing, cavernous hole below. The light from above faded as he fell farther and farther into nothingness. "If you allow your soul to be taken, then the pain will subside in favor of a calm death. So I suggest you simply let go." Tyler didn't like the way that sounded. It was like giving up, and giving up was such a weak thing to do. He didn't like it, not one bit, but, before he could allow any amount of determination to fill his mind, his memories hit him once again, and he realized that he didn't have anything to actually give up on. There was no point in fighting if there was nothing to actually fight _for_. He had already lost everything: his fans, his friends, and even...even Josh. It was such a far away concept to him, to lose Josh, to have his best friend vanish from his life. Tyler couldn't blame him, though. He'd been in a hole for months. Josh had taken him in after everything came crumbling down and allowed him to live with him in Columbus. Tyler decided that staying with his family wasn't the best idea. He couldn't take the judgment from them, the absolute disappointment, because he gave up a scholarship for this band, and he failed everyone. So, he stayed with Josh for days and days, each new morning accompanied with a promise of going out and finding a job. But he never found a new job. Josh did, and he adapted to the change in his life fairly well, but Tyler wasn't used to changes like this. He couldn't adapt. So he sat idle for who-knows-how-long, only to realize that Josh was beginning to grow tired of him. He was overstaying his welcome. So, before he could burden his friend any longer, he left on his own accord.

And now he was living in boxes on the sides of the streets of Columbus, Ohio. Alone. Cold.

 _Yeah, that sounds about right._ Tyler thought to himself, and he felt a tug on his ankle, the creature below yanking him further. "How sad." the voice cooed in mock sympathy. "You've seen your past. Your present. Your're useless and worthless. Couldn't even keep a career going that you gave up basketball for. Your family hates you, and now your best friend does too." Tyler's heart ached at the last jab. Each one of them brought a stab of pain with it, but the last one, _Josh_ , it hurt so much more for reasons Tyler didn't know.

"Josh..." Tyler whispered into the liquid, his voice having returned once he was calm. He could almost feel _its_ intrigue as he spoke. "I...I miss him." he stated, and flashes of Josh's smile, his unruly curls, and his amazing drumming skills popped into Tyler's head. He almost smiled at the memories, but he couldn't bring himself to do so.

"Boo hoo," the voice called with malice tinging every syllable. "Maybe you shouldn't have fucked up so much, then. You could've done better. You know you could've." Tyler gulped, his vocal chords trembling at the words he tried to speak. He wanted to say no, scream that he'd tried his best, but it was like some invisible force was gripping his tongue and forcing it to form other words, words that hurt, words that were true.

"Y-yeah." he croaked out in the most pitiful and meek way he's ever heard himself speak. Tears threatened to spill over his eyes once more. He sniffed in an attempt to hide his pain, and instead turned his attention back to the surface of the bog. To his surprise, the light from before was completely gone. Not a single sliver shined through the darkness that now surrounded him completely. Everything, everything was black. Everything was nothing.

Everything.

The sight made a weight that had already been placed in the boy's chest sink even further. He realized just how far gone he had to be to fall this deep into despair. When every corner you turned lead you astray to either more problems, or a dead end, then things really couldn't get any better at that point. He could find no way out of this nightmare, no alternative method that lead him to happiness. He simply continued to hit the same wall over and over and over again, because he could never learn from the mistakes he made. He was covered in blood, bruises, scars, and the amount of irreparable damage he'd inflicted on himself and every person around him was too much to bare. He tried to be the best he could, but the best he could didn't follow the guidelines of his true self, because who he was inside, this _monster_ that lived in the darkest recesses of the ocean, this was who he truly was. He had hit rock bottom, the lowest of the lows, yet his mind still found ways to allow him to sink more and more, and **he couldn't stop**. A part of him wanted to grow into something larger, someone more complex and kind, but no, he could not possibly accomplish such a goal when the very makeup of his being was something far more sinister than even the most brutal psychos could think up. _So what does that make me?_ And when he didn't have an answer for that, he knew it was too late for him.

Tyler didn't realize he'd been sobbing until something reached out and wiped a tear from his cheek. The feeling of suffocation filled his nerves once again as he grew frantic. His body flailed as he convulsed with the familiar affects of an anxiety attack. "Shhh, sh, don't cry," the voice spoke, although it was much closer than before. Tyler's eyes popped open in fear at how clear the monster's voice had become. There, in front of his very eyes, stood a figure very similar to himself. Practically identical, he'd say, if it weren't for the red eyes and black hands and neck. His sobbing slowed for a moment. "If you let me, I can make this all so much easier." it said, or rather, _he_ said with the tone of a mother speaking to her upset child. He brushed another tear from Tyler's cheek, movements gentle and soft. Tyler sniffled.

"H-how?" he asked in a choked sob, and the feeling of water dripping down his throat made him gag. He smiled at Tyler lovingly.

"Just let go, and I'll show you." he spoke with confidence. Tyler knew, he _knew_ that the man before him was just a congregation of the many rampant thoughts that fogged his mind from day to day. He could feel in his heart that he should not, under any circumstances, trust the person floating with him in this abyss, but...he wanted to anyway.

He promised Tyler release, told him that things could be easier, and if that meant death, then so be it. Anything, anything in the whole universe was better than this. Nothing could feel worse than losing everything you know, he supposed.

"Ok," Tyler forced out, and _his_ smile grew into a bone chilling grin.

"Josh..." _he_ spoke. "Your little boyfriend would've wanted this. He'd be much happier knowing you were at peace." Tyler nodded, and more tears trickled down his face as _he_ held Tyler's cheeks in his cold, black coated hands.

"Can you," Tyler started, and he locked eyes with the other male, his other half, his truth. "Can you drown me?" he asked, and _his_ teeth sparkled with a glint of sharpness.

"Gladly." _he_ stated, and in an instant, Tyler felt water drain itself from the ocean and into his lungs, filling them up to the brim until he couldn't breathe any longer. He felt like he was going to explode from the amount of liquid now flowing through his system, but he should've known better that his death would be far more painful than that. The feeling of cold hands on his face disappeared, and the other man was gone. The space around him closed in around his small frame, and his body flailed as he slowly began to die. He wouldn't survive long, but it felt like ages until his vision began to turn black and fuzzy. His movements slowed significantly, and he began to breathe in the water. He could no longer fight to keep his mouth closed, so it hung open lazily, and he just _breathed_. One, two, three intakes, and finally, his eyes slid shut.

He was alone when he lost consciousness.

He was alone when they found his body washed up on the Olentangy River.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Drown, of course. I had the idea last night and just decided,"Ah, fuck it, I'll finish it." So yeah. I hope you enjoyed. Also, the Olentangy River is a river that runs through Columbus. Woo random fun facts that aren't actually fun.


End file.
